LeBron James' Free Agency Fate Is as Overrated as His Cavaliers Career

It appears LeBron James is even more popular in defeat, as speculation about his upcoming free agency decision has taken priority over the fact James and his Cleveland Cavaliers were once again ushered out of the NBA postseason.

People never learn.

Everyone and their mom are jumping over each other in an effort to predict where James may land, even though there happens to be quite a bit of basketball left to be played this season.

And just like last season and the year before, the only thing we can be absolutely certain about is that this year's NBA Finals will once again not include James, although one could never tell by all the LeBronesque non-news.

An important fact which has been lost among all the destination madness is the manner in which James bowed out of this year's NBA playoffs, and how it reflects on his future.

The Cleveland Cavaliers failed to reach the Finals for the second consecutive year as the NBA's best regular season team, and James displayed anything but leadership skills along the way.

Even fans in Cleveland have accused James of intentionally throwing Game Five of the Cavaliers' series against the Celtics in an effort to expedite his departure from the state of Ohio.

I'm not sure I believe that, but it is interesting that even a small contingent of Cleveland fans would turn against their native son, who happens to be the league's two-time MVP.

It could be an act of desperation from a city which has been tortured by its sports teams, or it could be a dawning realization that James was never going to win a championship in Cleveland anyway.

We have been reminded time and time again that 2010 was the best chance for the Cleveland Cavaliers to win a championship, but in reality they were no closer this year than they were in 2007.

Cleveland has prospered in the regular season since James announced his arrival to the NBA, but outside of 2007's surprise trip to the Finals, each subsequent year has been an exercise in futility.

In 2009 James played a brilliant series against the Orlando Magic, but his teammates failed to back him up so he escaped most of the blame that year, but this season was different.

James' leadership abilities had never been questioned but his actions and attitude during the Cavaliers' Game Five blow-out loss started a groundswell of negativity directed towards James.

The Cavaliers and James were clearly frustrated by the loss and LeBron was visibly upset when the notion was put forth that his team gave up in the face of the Celtics' onslaught.

James vowed that Game Six would be different, and he did have a much better performance, but he committed nine turnovers and the end result was the same for the Cavaliers.

So if James does decide to leave Cleveland would his fortunes change with the scenery, or is James destined to lead a career similar to Charles Barkley's, Barkley being a great talent who was never able to win a championship?

This may sound outlandish to some, but how do you explain James' inability to capture a championship the past two seasons, or even lead his team to the NBA Finals.

Of course the blame will be placed on James' teammates, and his coach Mike Brown, whose career as the Cavaliers coach was recently ended, but those same excuses fail to hold weight.

I didn't feel the Cavaliers were the best team in the NBA when they had the league's best record last year, and my feelings were unchanged this year, even though they once again occupied the league's top spot.

But the same cannot be said for legions of fans who were sure this would be the Cavaliers' year, so to blame the coach and James' supporting cast in hindsight is betraying your true emotions.

The city of Cleveland is in a severe state of depression right now, and even though some say they could care less whether James leaves or not, once he is gone the pain will only increase.

Some team, whether it be Chicago, New York, or New Jersey, is going to offer James a ton of money in hopes of capturing an NBA championship for their city, but they should look at James' situation in Cleveland before they offer him the keys to their town.

James was afforded every opportunity to bring an NBA championship to his home state and he failed miserably on each occasion, so what makes you think his fortunes would be different in another city?

Everything that glitters is not gold, and one could use that axiom to define James' career in Cleveland, because while it was speckled with individual achievements, he was never able to garner acclaim on the game's main stage.

One could give every excuse known to man for the Cavaliers' and James' failures, but it doesn't change the fact that his career in Cleveland was overrated, and even if he does decide to vacate Ohio, he would still have to win in his new city to change my perception.